Art controversies through the years

04.13.2012

The statue that used to stand in front of the Pacific Press building in Vancouver is now in front of the Kennedy Heights plant in Surrey.GLENN BAGLO
/ VANCOUVER SUN

Sooraya Graham, a fine arts student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, didn’t expect to find herself in the middle of a virtual hostage-taking when her project for a photography class was hung in the hallways of the university’s art department.Handout
/ ...

Sniffy the rat cowers in his cage, the object of curiousity after a ‘performance artist’ was set to squash him in the name of art in January 1990.Peter Battistoni
/ Vancouver Sun

This unusual sculpture sits on the shore of False Creek at the end of Davie Street below the tower homes of sometimes unappreciative residents of the neighbourhood. On the sculpture are photolike images depicting the history of False Creek.
/ VANCOUVER SUN

Body Worlds Exhibit opens at Science World in Vancouver in 2010. Humans without skin and body parts comprise the exhibit.wayne leidenfrost
/ PNG

The nude Baggage Handler is seen in the traffic circle near the art gallery in Penticton, B.C. Artist Michael Hermesh is shown in the photo.

Vancouver B.C.--10/08/09-Chinese artist Yue Minjin’s sculptures of 14 laughing men is one of the latest public art displays to be added to the Vancouver scene at Morton Triangle at Denman and Davie in the West End in 2009.Jenelle Schneider
/ Vancouver Sun

The East Van cross by artist Ken Lum is illuminated after sunset in Vancouver. The City of Vancouver-installed artwork is at the corner of Great Northern Way and Clark Drive.Gerry Kahrmann
/ PNG

Vancouver B.C.--10/08/09-Chinese artist Yue Minjin’s sculptures of 14 laughing men is one of the latest public art displays to be added to the Vancouver scene at Morton Triangle at Denman and Davie in the West End in 2009.Jenelle Schneider
/ Vancouver Sun

The former Terry Fox memorial at BC Place Stadium. The operator, PavCo, asked artist and author Douglas Coupland to design a new memorial to Terry Fox, to be created with the help of the Fox family.GLENN BAGLO
/ PNG

Liz Magor’s public installation in Coal Harbour.

The Lenin/Mao bust is shown at corner of Elmbridge and Alderbridge in Richmond in 2009.bill keay
/ Vancouver Sun

The statue that used to stand in front of the Pacific Press building in Vancouver is now in front of the Kennedy Heights plant in Surrey.Ian Smith
/ VANCOUVER SUN

Muslim-Canadian Sooraya Graham, a fine arts student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, didn't expect to find herself in the middle of a virtual hostage-taking when her project for a photography class was hung in the hallways of the university's art department.

Her photo, a mural print of a woman wearing full Islamic dress and holding a bra in her hands while folding laundry, was ripped off the wall by an outraged university staffer.

Graham made the discovery last Friday after overhearing some students discussing the removal of “an offensive poster.”

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